Russian president leaves Bollywood impressed

Cultural exchange was an important part of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s agenda during his visit to the city. On Wednesday, he met a delegation of filmmakers at Yash Raj Films Studio in Andheri.

Cultural exchange was an important part of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s agenda during his visit to the city. On Wednesday, he met a delegation of filmmakers at Yash Raj Films Studio in Andheri. The idea was to encourage and improve cultural relations with Bollywood. Apart from Yash Chopra, Amit Khanna, chairman of Reliance Big Entertainment, Ramesh Sippy, Rakesh Roshan, Mukesh Bhatt, Randhir Kapoor, Manmohan Shetty and Puneet Goenka of Zee were present.

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The meeting wasn't too long, but enough for the Russian delegation to strike a chord with Bollywood's big guns. According to Amit Khanna, "The idea was to explore co-productions, shooting in each other's countries, furthering cultural ties."

Rakesh Roshan seemed pleased with the interaction. "The president committed a one-window facility for us to visit his country for shooting, promoting and marketing our films," he said.

Later, Medvedev dropped in at the sets of Shah Rukh Khan's RA.One where the actor did a jig with Kareena Kapoor.

“For me, the meeting was special as the Kapoors have always had a strong connect with Russia because of my grandfather Raj Kapoor,” Kareena said.